


on the run (from what you fear most)

by snicksnackfrickfrack245



Series: The Boy In That Dream, Was it You? [1]
Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Gen, I Tried, Time Travel, Time travel to the past, chapter 2 spoilers, cheka POV, cheka is kinda OOC in this, cheka is so precious, child leona talks about his life, via dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25894477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snicksnackfrickfrack245/pseuds/snicksnackfrickfrack245
Summary: preparing to meet you, i instead helped somebody else. ending up in a world so grey, i was accompanied by a boy with eyes so green. you and him, both so similar, watch the sand slowly blow past.
Relationships: Cheka & Leona Kingscholar
Series: The Boy In That Dream, Was it You? [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1879096
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	on the run (from what you fear most)

Cheka had to cover his mouth to stop him from giggling too loud every time a guard walked past him. He had always been proud of being really good at hide and seek - so much so, that the people he played with didn’t even know he’d started hiding! 

‘ _ I’m going to go find Uncle Leona! _ ’ Cheka thought, happily skipping towards the cave, where his uncle liked to stay so much. Along the way, he picked flowers, skillfully weaving them into a crown like he’d always done before. ‘ _ Because Father told me it’s not nice to visit someone else’s place without a gift! _ ’ 

With the flower crown in hand, Cheka made his way up the hill, to the cliff of rocks. He’s always thought it was a shame that this place didn’t have any plants, it’d look so good!

“Uncle Leona! Are you here?” he called out, looking around. “Cheka has come to find you!”

After being met with silence, Cheka sat down sulkily. He’ll just wait here for Uncle, then! Placing the flower crown gently on the floor next to him, staring at the ravine next to him. The afternoon sun was so warm that Cheka couldn’t help falling asleep… 

‘ _ I wonder why if this is the reason Uncle Leona likes this place so much? _ ’

\---

“Hey, wake up! You can’t be sleeping here!” Cheka was shaken awake by a dark-skinned boy, who looked only a few years older than Cheka. He clutched a well-made knife in his trembling hands. His hair was covering half of his face, and his green eye reminded Cheka of someone, but he was too confused to think about it. 

Cheka took the time to look around, realising that he wasn’t at the cliff, but in a vaguely familiar-looking city-well, one that seemed more like the slums. The surroundings were dark, but since he was part lion, he could at least see shapes. Cheka fully sat up, deciding that it would be best if he just did what the boy said. Looking at the boy, he was about to ask him who he was, but what he saw was shocking.

His left face was covered in blood.

Cheka audibly gasped, panicking. “A-are you okay? You need to get it treated! I-it’s okay, I know someone from-”

“No. If I go out into the open… They’ll…” He trailed off, worry never leaving his face. 

“Oh...” Cheka didn’t really understand what that meant, but he was sure the boy had his reasons for not going outside of these narrow alleyways. But there was something else that needed attention; the boy’s eye. 

Cheka had watched the palace doctor treat his arms or legs whenever he fell over and scuffed his knees. He had never done it before, but he can still try. 

“Hey, let me see that knife for a bit.” 

The boy hesitantly gave it to Cheka, who studied it for a moment. This knife looked a lot like the one in his uncle’s room, and he was starting to connect the dots. Could this be… Uncle Leona? That didn’t matter right now though, he needed to help him. Cheka thought that his shirt would have to do, so he cut off a piece, returning the knife to him and began carefully wiping the blood away.

As Cheka cleaned, he got distracted by the way his good eye would look back and forth, searching for any bad guys. His eyes were really bright, like they were emeralds. Cheka just had a great idea! Since he doesn’t know his name, he’ll give him one! Cheka hummed in satisfaction, deciding that his name will be “Emmie” from now on!

“What are you- Ouch!” He winced, Cheka apologising immediately after. Emmie suddenly grabbed Cheka’s shirt, inspecting it. The royalty of Afterglow Savanna would be given special shirts to wear, when they didn’t need to wear formal robes. “Wait, this shirt… Where did you get this from?”

Cheka was still holding the piece of bloodied cloth in his hand. “Wait, I need to finish cleaning the blood!”

“To hell with that! Now tell me, where the hell did you get this shirt?” Cheka tried to keep wiping Emmie’s face, but he kept resisting, raising his knife at Cheka, his hand trembling. “I’m not gonna let you do anything until you tell me!”

“Okay, okay! But you need to let me finish. I’ll tell you why if you do.” But before Cheka could even say anything, people who he recognised as palace guards, began to flood in through the alleyway.

Before Cheka could react, he was grabbed by the shirt and pulled off straight into the guards. He thought they were going to crash, but he never did-, instead, Emmie led him weaving in between the crowd of guards smoothly. Cheka couldn’t process what was happening, everything was a blur. It reminded Cheka of the time he was in a carriage, going fast down the entrance of the palace. The wind on his skin was refreshing, He let Emmie lead him wherever he was going, and after a while they started to slow down. 

Emmie let go of his hand, both of them out of breath. Cheka watched the other boy carefully, seeing if the wound was still open. After the run, the blood had completely dried up, and Cheka hoped it wouldn’t get infected or anything. 

Cheka recognised this place, after all, the cliff he fell asleep on was really close! He was sure if he turned back, he could see the tower where he lived in, but that wasn’t built yet. Emmie made a gesture to follow him, and Cheka did so happily, bounding after him. He heard him mutter something like “Where do you even get all that energy from?”, but he paid it no mind. Instead, he looked around him, pretty plants blooming everywhere. Strange… Cheka never saw this many around this place, he’d always had to go to the palace garden for flowers. 

Snapping out of daze, he walked towards Emmie, who had already gone ahead of him and sat down with his legs dangling off the cliff. 

“You know, I like to come here when things get a little… Overwhelming back at home,” Emmie sighed, gesturing behind him, to where the castle would be. Cheka nodded, a signal that he was listening and that Emmie could continue.

“I was born into a royal family, as the second prince. You might have figured out that I’m royalty, but that’s my full status. I hate it. Before you say anything like ‘But you’re so lucky!’, I know I am, but I hate it. All everyone talks about is how great my brother is, even when he messes up. I try, I really do, but nothing ever seems good enough. 

“Hey, let me show you a secret; I’ve developed my Unique Magic,” Emmie picked up a nearby stone, around the size of his fist. “ _Bow down to me!_ _King’s Roar!_ ” Cheka watched in awe as the stone quickly crumbled to sand in his hand. _Just like his Uncle’s magic!_ His thought process was quickly interrupted by Emmie continuing his talk. 

“You look like you’re in shock. Do you… like it?” Cheka closed his mouth and nodded up and down vigorously. The corner’s of Emmie’s mouth turned upwards ever so slightly, happy that someone finally liked something of his.

“Thanks… I guess. I haven’t told my parents yet, I’m scared what they’ll say. They’ll probably scold me, something like ‘Sand? That’s the most useless magic I’ve heard of!’ or even ‘Why can you only kill things? Why can’t you be more like your brother?’ 

“It always goes back to him. About how he’s so much better than me, how he’s so great, how I should be more like him. I bet if I were born first, I’d have all the praise in the world! And then life would be so much better! I wish that’s how it was… Who cares anyway? I’ve always been alone, no one wants to be friends with me!” Emmie paused, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. “… Hey, do you think I should even try anymore? I mean, it’s not like they’ll ever say anything nice to me. Putting in effort for something useless is a waste of time, right?”   
  
“Nuh-uh! I think it’s really good to try!” Cheka was quick to disagree, trying to encourage him to the best he can. “If you do, you’ll become really amazing! Trust me!” After all, his uncle was so cool!

“... Is that so? I can only hope, then.” 

With nothing left to say, they settled into a comfortable silence within each other’s presence, watching the sun slowly starting to hide behind mountains far off in the distance.

“I’ve heard that people have been sent back in time on this cliff,” Emmie said suddenly, still staring down at the ravine. “But I don’t believe it. It’s only a rumour, nothing more.”

Cheka wondered if that’s what happened to him, when he fell asleep. It sounded really fun, so he hoped that was what he did. He was getting really sleepy now, probably because he ran around so much earlier.

“I’m getting… kind of tired, Emmie.” Cheka yawned, lying down on the warm ground.

“Emmie? That’s such a weird name…” He chuckled, enjoying it nonetheless.

“You can’t blame me… You…” Cheka paused, beginning to doze off. “You never told me your name…”   
  
“Oh, I guess I never did, huh. Well, my name is… ” He tried his best to listen, but everything sounded so far away.

Before he knew it, Cheka had drifted off.

\---

It was nice here… Napping here felt really nice. Cheka felt like he was floating, but he didn’t like whoever was shaking him. 

...Wait, shaking him?

“...Emmie?” Cheka groggily called out, rubbing his eyes.   
  
“Emmie? Who the hell is that?” A familiar voice huffed, and Cheka immediately jumped up at the realisation of who it was.

“Uncle Leona! I finally found you!” They both fell to the ground as he pounced onto his uncle. Leona clicked his tongue in annoyance as he picked Cheka up by the shirt. 

“You’re so annoying, you hear that? Do you know how long we’ve been searching for you? And out of all places, I find you here.” He scolded half-heartedly, not bothering to say anything more. Placing Cheka on the ground, he turned away. “Whatever, you better apologise to your dad after this. I’m going to go to sleep.” 

He watched him move to the top of the cliff, all alone. Emmie’s words ran through his head, ‘ _ Who cares? I’ve always been alone! _ ’, and he decides that he was right. Maybe Emmie really was Leona! Shaking his head, he started to try and think of ways to make Leona smile.

Cheka suddenly remembered the flower crown sitting beside him. 

“Uncle Leona, come here for a bit!” Leona had already started lying down, and Cheka calling for him only elicited an annoyed groan. “Fine, I’m coming to you! Don’t fall asleep yet!” Cheka happily skipped towards his uncle, carefully holding the flowers in his hands. Sneaking up behind him, he placed the crown upon Leona’s head. 

“Because you’re the king of your very own palace!” Cheka happily announced. The crown of golden and orange blossoms weaved in the crown were in stark contrast to Leona, but they looked lovely all the same. Leona’s face was slightly surprised at first, but that quickly turned into a smile before he grabbed Cheka.

“Cm’ere, you little brat,” Leona playfully ruffled Cheka’s hair, holding him in an embrace. What he said next was nothing more than a whisper, but Cheka heard it all the same. 

“Thank you.”   
  


‘ _ I think I’m starting to like this place too… _ ’

**Author's Note:**

> cheka time travels though a dreammmmm  
> leona angst time hhhhhh  
> this collection is just gonna be some one-shots i plan to write, they all feature dreams and time travelling  
> huge thanks to @silveryyy for beta-ing for me again, she's a really big help!  
> feedback is always appreciated!  
> thank you for reading!
> 
> edit:  
> come talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/blurredendings)!


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